My name is Ronaldo. I woke up early in the morning and I did my house work. One of the responsibilities was to take our tents in the power house. After taking the tents in the power house I went for bath. And after bath I went for breakfast and the breakfast went so good. I really liked it. After breakfast I went to put on my scout uniform. After that I went into the bus and have traveled all the way to Nabulagala UMC for worship. After the service we traveled to Hotel Enro for Safari. Thank you.
Ronaldo
(Sunday, January 2).
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
The Rhythm of Africa
It's hard to find a starting point to describe the amazing experience we have been having on our mission trip in Uganda. As I write this, a small number of our team is gathered in the lobby of the hotel researching ways to respond to questions and ministry needs we have identified so far while a typical Ugandan New Year's celebration carries on in the courtyard. Amplified music is blasting throughout the hotel and our tired group decided we had no choice but to go with the flow and stay awake to welcome in the New Year rather than retire to our rooms to get some much needed rest. Actually this isn't the first time we've had to put aside our own agendas and follow someone else's lead. As a team, we've endured lost baggage and meetings that lasted well beyond scheduled time. We've been surprised by a marching band reception for our scout team and unexpected invitations to address groups or participate in official ceremonies. Our schedules have been disrupted and rearranged until I can no longer read my own penciled in corrections on our itinerary. Yet as we've surrendered ourselves to the rhythm of Africa, we've grown and learned about ourselves and truly gotten to know our sisters and brothers in Christ here in Uganda. Our scouts learned to march and parade in Ugandan style. Others of us have discovered more than we could have imagined about how Ugandan Christians are participating in God's mission and beyond that, how similar we really are. As I have opened up myself to the possibilities of partnering with United Methodists here in Uganda, I have seen first hand how God is already at work through the Church here. The rhythm we all have felt has been guided by God's grace and has guided the intricate dance of ministry that we all have engaged in together. At 11:30 PM here, our team is off to join in the New Year's celebration in true Ugandan style with dancing, drumming and fireworks. Happy New Year to all God's people!
Jennifer Hansen
Jennifer Hansen
God
Thank God for God as our trip to Uganda is full of the Holy Spirit.
--Walt Stephens (Coordinator for Scouts in North Georgia Conference).
--Walt Stephens (Coordinator for Scouts in North Georgia Conference).
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Stop Hunger Now
Grace and Peace Friends,
Today we met with the leadership at Humble United Methodist School in Mukono. Had some great conversations about our covenant together. It's exciting to see how the Body of Christ can work across national borders. Sitting around a table in the teacher's lounge, we met for a couple of hours. We talked about how to make the school more sustainable. We are working out how to meet the food needs of the school. There are two ways going forward.
1. The school has started planting crops like sweet potatoes, cabbage, bananas and kasava root. The students help with the planting and harvesting. The leaders plan to expand their agriculture efforts in the future which is exciting. In fact, we had some conversation about having interns from Candler School of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Gammon School of Theology and interested people in North Georgia as early as this summer. One potential focus for these internships will be to explore the connection between theology and agriculture in the local church. This could really bear fruit (ha, ha). But we all agreed that agriculture could really benefit Humble School.
2. I brought over some packages from "Stop Hunger Now", the nutritious feeding program sponsored by Methodist pastors in North Carolina, to the meeting. Each package is made up rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamins. So Bishop Wandabula said during the meeting, "let's try this out before we leave today." The cook prepared the dish. She had trouble distinguishing between the directions for cups of water needed. They use the metric system here. She brought us each a portion of the dish. I was worried they were not going to like it. But instead, they all commented how much they liked the dish and believe they use it at the school. Bishop Wandabula said, "This was even better than the food we had earlier." I hope the cook took it the right way. The cook did note how nutritious the meals are. Our hope is to have 185,000 meals shipped over by March of 2011. This could help the school lower its total cost for students.
Well, that's enough for tonight. The Scouts from St. James UMC had an awesome day. I'll let them write about it soon. Tonight, they are camping at Humble School with 15 or so other Uganda Scouts. Tomorrow they will work together building a latrine for an elderly person in the area.
Blessings,
Will Zant
Today we met with the leadership at Humble United Methodist School in Mukono. Had some great conversations about our covenant together. It's exciting to see how the Body of Christ can work across national borders. Sitting around a table in the teacher's lounge, we met for a couple of hours. We talked about how to make the school more sustainable. We are working out how to meet the food needs of the school. There are two ways going forward.
1. The school has started planting crops like sweet potatoes, cabbage, bananas and kasava root. The students help with the planting and harvesting. The leaders plan to expand their agriculture efforts in the future which is exciting. In fact, we had some conversation about having interns from Candler School of Theology, Duke Divinity School, Gammon School of Theology and interested people in North Georgia as early as this summer. One potential focus for these internships will be to explore the connection between theology and agriculture in the local church. This could really bear fruit (ha, ha). But we all agreed that agriculture could really benefit Humble School.
2. I brought over some packages from "Stop Hunger Now", the nutritious feeding program sponsored by Methodist pastors in North Carolina, to the meeting. Each package is made up rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and vitamins. So Bishop Wandabula said during the meeting, "let's try this out before we leave today." The cook prepared the dish. She had trouble distinguishing between the directions for cups of water needed. They use the metric system here. She brought us each a portion of the dish. I was worried they were not going to like it. But instead, they all commented how much they liked the dish and believe they use it at the school. Bishop Wandabula said, "This was even better than the food we had earlier." I hope the cook took it the right way. The cook did note how nutritious the meals are. Our hope is to have 185,000 meals shipped over by March of 2011. This could help the school lower its total cost for students.
Well, that's enough for tonight. The Scouts from St. James UMC had an awesome day. I'll let them write about it soon. Tonight, they are camping at Humble School with 15 or so other Uganda Scouts. Tomorrow they will work together building a latrine for an elderly person in the area.
Blessings,
Will Zant
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Arrived Safely
Well friends,
We arrived in Uganda at 10:40 pm Ugandan Time. We had a great trip over. The only hiccup is that we had four bags that missed the flight from London to Entebbe. We hope to have those by Thursday night.
The scouts are preparing for a big day at the scouting headquarters in Kampala. We travel first for an orientation with Bishop Wandabula at the United Methodist Church Episcopal offices.
The North Georgia group is scheduled to meet with representatives of Stop Hunger Now, a feeding program we are explore for Humble Place UM schools.
Good moral. We have great expectations of what God is doing through this Bridge.
Blessings,
Will Zant
We arrived in Uganda at 10:40 pm Ugandan Time. We had a great trip over. The only hiccup is that we had four bags that missed the flight from London to Entebbe. We hope to have those by Thursday night.
The scouts are preparing for a big day at the scouting headquarters in Kampala. We travel first for an orientation with Bishop Wandabula at the United Methodist Church Episcopal offices.
The North Georgia group is scheduled to meet with representatives of Stop Hunger Now, a feeding program we are explore for Humble Place UM schools.
Good moral. We have great expectations of what God is doing through this Bridge.
Blessings,
Will Zant
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Preparing for the journey
Hello Friends from North Georgia,
Advent greetings.
This is Rev. Will Zant from North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs. I have the wonderful task of helping connect churches and other groups in the North Georgia Conference to the United Methodist Church in Uganda. This is part of the "Bridges" initiative which is our conference's international mission partnership program. The first Bridge is to Uganda.
I am helping lead a group from the St. James UMC in Atlanta from December 27-January 6. Their scouting group is partnering with the Boy Scouts from the Humble Place United Methodist School in Uganda. Both groups are so excited. There is also smaller group from North Georgia attending this trip to explore possibilities for partnerships. Our initiatives include developing an internship program, promoting "Stop Hunger Now," starting sustainable agricultural projects and providing educational opportunities for pastors and laity.
This blog site is to help us communicate our experiences. So please join our journey. You will hear from the scouts and our Ugandan friends as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Blessings,
Will Zant
Advent greetings.
This is Rev. Will Zant from North Springs UMC in Sandy Springs. I have the wonderful task of helping connect churches and other groups in the North Georgia Conference to the United Methodist Church in Uganda. This is part of the "Bridges" initiative which is our conference's international mission partnership program. The first Bridge is to Uganda.
I am helping lead a group from the St. James UMC in Atlanta from December 27-January 6. Their scouting group is partnering with the Boy Scouts from the Humble Place United Methodist School in Uganda. Both groups are so excited. There is also smaller group from North Georgia attending this trip to explore possibilities for partnerships. Our initiatives include developing an internship program, promoting "Stop Hunger Now," starting sustainable agricultural projects and providing educational opportunities for pastors and laity.
This blog site is to help us communicate our experiences. So please join our journey. You will hear from the scouts and our Ugandan friends as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Blessings,
Will Zant
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